Makar Making Most of Football Farewell

Brett Makar had a fantastic football season as a junior as Yorktown made it to the Class A final. He’s on pace to do even better his senior year as the Cornhuskers have gotten off to an undefeated start to the season. Yet he will probably never play major competitive football after this season.

Brett Makar is even better in lacrosse. (PHOTO COURTESY OF BRETT MAKAR)

Makar, who if anything is even better in lacrosse, has accepted a scholarship to Maryland University in that sport. And college coaches don’t want to see their scholarship athletes risking injury in another sport, particularly one as rugged as football. Plus, at 6 feet and 185 pounds, Makar is plenty big for high-school football but would find bigger foes at the college level.

Not playing further football — a game he started at age 8 in the Yorktown A.C. — is a reality sinking in slowly. “I haven’t really thought about it that much,” Makar said shortly after Yorktown went to 4-0 by rallying in the final minute to beat a tough Rye, 34-30, while trailing 14-0 early. “But definitely my heart is in lacrosse.”

A relevant example is former John Jay star Terersa Swertfager, on a college softball scholarship, and thus unable to play college volleyball after being the best high-school libero these eyes ever saw.

Yorktown lacrosse coach Sean Carney has a similar view of Makar, who plays defense for him and earned All-America designation. “He’s the best athlete I’ve ever coached here.” Carney said. “Any time we face a team with a player we have to stop, we put Brett on him.”

Meanwhile, Makar is making the most of his time on the gridiron, both on offense and defense. He is in his second season as a two-way starter/star. As a junior, Makar was the area’s Player of the Year and gained 1,584 yards from scrimmage while scoring 21 touchdowns. In the first three games this season, he had 45 carries for 516 yards and six touchdowns including a hard-to-believe effort in which he rallied his team from a 14-7 deficit to a 28-14 victory over Hen Hud while rushing for 215 yards and two touchdowns and catching a pass, plus on defense making eight tackles, an interception, a sack and a fumble recovery.

In game 4, Rye understandably keyed on him, limiting him to 60 yards on the ground. But his teammates stepped up, which pleased Makar no end. “We lost a lot of great players from last season,” said Makar, “but the guys certainly stepped up. I love these guys and I love playing with them — a lot since the third grade. It’s a special group.”

And one that could go far again. Don’t bet against the Huskers making the playoffs. And don’t bet against Makar leading them.

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